What kind of support does Clerky provide for 83(b) elections?
Since our launch in 2013, Clerky has consistently offered the most robust support for 83(b) elections available from any online legal service.
We offer two levels of support: standard 83(b) election support (included automatically) and our optional Managed 83(b) Election add-on.
Standard support: included automatically
When you use Clerky to issue shares with vesting, you'll automatically get our standard support for 83(b) elections. This support is designed to help you easily file your election yourself, correctly and on time.
We pre-fill your forms and provide detailed instructions for attorney-recommended best practices. By guiding you through the process, we help you avoid the risks that come with free auto-file services which skip attorney-recommended best practices.
Here's what you get with our standard support:
✅ Pre-filled 83(b) election forms
✅ Step-by-step instructions with comprehensive best practices
✅ Automated reminders so you don't forget
✅ Expert help from real people
Managed 83(b) Election add-on: $149.00 per election
Our Managed 83(b) Election add-on is a good option if you'd like Clerky to help you manage your filing. It uses the same attorney-recommended best practices in our standard support, but we do all the work so you don't have to.
Here's what you get with our add-on:
✅ Election mailed for you via Certified Mail
✅ Priority Mail service
✅ USPS tracking number
✅ Alerts for delivery problems
✅ Discounts for sending replacements if your election doesn't arrive at the IRS when expected
✅ Redundant evidence of your timely election
- USPS Postmark on your Certified Mail Receipt
- Physical visit to a USPS office to obtain the postmark from a postal worker (there's no other way to get the postmark besides a physical visit)
- Verification that the postmark is legible
- Postmarked receipt scanned and uploaded to your account
- Since Clerky can generally control this process, everyone who uses our add-on gets this evidence
- IRS-stamped copy of your election*
- Prepaid Priority Mail return envelope included with your election
- Request that the IRS return a stamped copy
- If received, IRS-stamped copy scanned and uploaded to your account
- USPS Return Receipt*
- Request for a return receipt from the USPS, proving delivery to the IRS
- If received, return receipt scanned and uploaded to your account
- If not received, Form 3811-A filed to request additional delivery information
✅ All obtained evidence
- 1 year of government-grade physical evidence storage1
- Secure U.S. delivery if you decide you want to store your evidence yourself2
To our knowledge, no other online legal service offers anything close to the enhanced support provided by our add-on.
Why does the add-on cost extra?
The $149 fee covers postage costs, secure physical storage, and labor-intensive steps we handle on your behalf, including an in-person trip to a USPS office, mail processing, and evidence handling.
Because we incur these costs for each 83(b) election, we're not able to include them in the pricing for our products. Startups can have any number of founders, so some will need to file more 83(b) elections than others. Some founders may also prefer to file their elections themselves and we don't want to charge you for a service you don't want.
For more details on what's involved — and why no other legal service offers this level of support — see Why is the Managed 83(b) Election Add-On not free?.
Can I use the online 83(b) election form that the IRS provides?
The IRS does offer an online 83(b) election form, but it generally won't work for startups. The form rejects fair market values with more than two decimal places, so it can't accept values typical for early-stage startups, such as $0.00001. It also caps the number of shares at 999,999, which is often less than the number of initial shares that founders purchase after incorporation. Because of these limitations, very few startups will be able to use the online 83(b) election form provided by the IRS.